The Tips in detail

 "You never stop learning."

This is true for everybody so don't deny this to be true for you. If you are a newbie to 3D read each and every tutorial you can get hands on. You should also do some »RTFM« if you are an advanced designer. It pays. There are many valuable tutorials availible out there on the net you should read (if you send me some, I'll make up a section! Until that time look at my links-page for resources to start at.) There are also many books about 3D graphics really worth reading. I won't advertise any here, since there are many individual favours and dislikes with most of them. A good start are the manuals shipped together with your software. You should also take a look at the help-files (this is espec. true for 3DSM25+.)

Besides the simple skill of being able to switch on your computer and starting your 3D-software it pays to be able of performing some more "classical" art tasks. Sure, you must know the howabouts of your 3D package, but also being able to sketch pays alot. When starting with animations you will want to learn the storyboard-trick and perhaps write some short stories or tales. Having a feeling for color and shape is of incredible value and basic knowledge of optics (physics) also pays when designing objects.

As soon as it comes to animating, you might need some partial knowledge from engineering or biology (or both, depending on what you are building) to get really realistic results. Also you should learn as much about textures as possible. What texture looks smooth and why or why not? Knowing how to take photos is not really a must, but having this skill makes you able to take your own pictures of textures and objects. Further you get a by far better feeling about what happens to an area and objects you have seen with your own eyes after you made a photo of them and reduced them to 2D images.

All skills related to art in any way will pay sometime when you stick to 3DArt. Pure technical skills like knowing how to use what certain tool from your software does not make you becoming a great artist. Becoming an artist depends on many very different skills and being able to use a computer and a specific software (regardless of it's name, price, quality or flexibility) is just one task among many. Being able to combine all of these skills or even having the feeling for some or all of them is called talent. The longer you will stick to art, the more likely it is that you will become able to tell the really talented artists from the "only" skilled ones.